Although early in the investigation, firefighters said the evidence is leading them to believe the fire started on the outside of one of the buildings. The fire burned quickly, engulfing and destroying two buildings where about 50 people lived.

“It serves as a costly reminder to us of just how dangerous fireworks can be,” said Chief Bertral Washington of the Clark County Fire Department.

Lateasa Rodgers watched in disbelief as flames took everything she owned burned to ashes.

“I can’t even think,” she said, crying. “That feeling you get, when you’re so destroyed inside, it hurts.”

She said her family was already struggling economically.

“This is devastating,” she said.

In the midst of this raging fire, KLAS-TV captured a video of a grey and white cat suddenly leaping up from a balcony.

The cat looks frantically around – to the side, to the roof, to the ground below – and is unsure where to go. The roof appears too high to scale, and would likely be too hot. After looking around for several moments to determine the best escape route, the cat places its front paws over the wooden railing to leap to the ground, two stories below.

Those recording the feat are yelling, encouraging the cat to jump to safety. ‘Jump, baby, jump!’ one man yells hoarsely.
With one powerful leap, the cat kicks out from the balcony and flails before falling to the ground below.
According to KLAS-TV, the cat was unhurt.

Wow! This brave kitty must have used up at least one life in his daring jump!

180 comments

Sad to see that fire has caused havoc in people's lives and for pets and the poor dog that did lose his life. Fire is a constant danger and we should all have escape plans in mind, be we dwellers of homes or apartments. One can also get alert notices stating the number of pets you have in your home as well.

Adult cats can generally jump from a second floor as their anatomy is designed for high jumps, anything higher than a second floor is more difficult but a cat certainly has more of an escape chance than does the dog whose body is not designed for jumping off the second floor.

I'm so saddened knowing the dog didn't make it -- if only he and kitty were together -- hopefully, he would've followed kitty's suit -- they then both would've made it! As for kitty -- i'm glad she jumped and made it -- the will to live propels us -- if, of course, there is a way out.